1. (a) For purposes of administering Government Code, §824.601, a reporting entity shall furnish the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) a monthly certified statement of all employment of TRS service or disability retirees. Except for the monthly certified statement for August of each year, the monthly certified statement and all required employer surcharges must be remitted to TRS before the eleventh day after the last day of the month. The monthly certified statement for August must be remitted before the seventh day of September. If the tenth day of the month, or the sixth day of month for the August monthly certified statement, falls on a weekend or federal holiday, the monthly certified statement and all required employer surcharges are due on the last business day before the due date. Each employer that fails to remit all required employer surcharges to TRS before the eleventh day after the last day of the month or before the seventh day of September for the monthly certified statement for August, shall pay to TRS penalty interest on the unpaid amounts in the amount provided in §825.408, Government Code. Effective with the monthly certified statement due for the report month of January 2018, each employer that fails to attain a completed status on all monthly certified statements required by TRS before the eleventh day after the last day of the month or before the seventh day of September for the monthly certified statement for August shall pay, in addition to any deposits and penalty interest owed, the late fee established in subsection (d) of this section for each business day that the monthly certified statement fails to attain a completed status. In addition to the monthly certified statement of the employment of all TRS service or disability retirees, reporting entities must include the following:

   1. (1) effective June 20, 2003, information regarding employees of third party entities if the employees are service or disability retirees who were first employed by the third party entity on or after May 24, 2003 and are performing duties or providing services on behalf of or for the benefit of the reporting entity that employees of the reporting entity would otherwise perform or provide; and

   2. (2) effective the beginning of the 2017-18 school year, information regarding retirees who retired within 12 full, consecutive calendar months of the month of the monthly certified statement and are performing duties or providing services for or on behalf of the reporting entity that employees of the reporting entity would otherwise perform or provide, and are:

      1. (A) waiving, deferring, or forgoing compensation for the services or duties;
      2. (B) performing the duties or providing the services as an independent contractor; or
      3. (C) serving as a volunteer without compensation and performing the same duties or providing the same services for a reporting entity that the retiree performed or provided immediately before retiring and the retiree has an agreement to perform those duties or provide those services after the first 12 full, consecutive calendar months after the retiree's effective date of retirement.

2. (b) The monthly certified statement shall contain information required by TRS to administer applicable limitations and necessary for the executive director or his designee to classify employment as one of the following:

   1. (1) substitute service;
   2. (2) employment that is not more than one-half time;
   3. (3) full-time employment;
   4. (4) trial employment of disability retiree for three months; or
   5. (5) combination of substitute and other work in the same calendar month.
3. (c) For purposes of administering Government Code, §825.4092 and Insurance Code, §1575.204, a reporting entity shall furnish TRS a monthly certified statement reflecting the TRS service and/or disability retirees working, the amount of salary paid to each retiree the total amount paid on all retirees under §31.41 of this title, the total amount due under §41.4 of this title (relating to Employer Health Benefit Surcharge), and any other information requested by TRS for the administration of these sections. The monthly certified statement must include information regarding employees of third party entities if the employees are service or disability retirees who were first employed by the third party entity on or after May 24, 2003, and are performing duties or providing service on behalf of or for the benefit of the reporting entity. Effective with the beginning of the 2017-18 school year, the monthly certified statement must include all retirees who are required to be reported to TRS in subsection (a)(2) of this section.

4. (d) Employers that fail to attain a completed status for the monthly certified statement(s) as required in this section before the eleventh day after the last day of the month or before the seventh day of September for the certified monthly statement for August shall pay to TRS, in addition to the required employer surcharges and any applicable penalty interest on the unpaid amounts, the late fee established in this subsection for each business day that the monthly certified statement fails to attain a completed status. The late fees required to be paid are as follows:

   1. (1) For employers with fewer than 100 employees, the late fee for the first business day the monthly certified statement fails to attain a completed status is $100. For each subsequent business day that the monthly certified statement fails to attain a completed status, the employer shall pay an additional $10.
   2. (2) For employers with at least 100 employees but no more than 500 employees, the late fee for the first business day the monthly certified statement fails to attain a completed status is $250. For each subsequent business day that the monthly certified statement fails to attain a completed status, the employer shall pay an additional $25.
   3. (3) For employers with more than 500 employees but no more than 1,000 employees, the late fee for the first business day the report or documentation fails to attain a completed status is $500. For each subsequent business day that the report or documentation fails to attain a completed status, the employer shall pay an additional $50.
   4. (4) For employers with more than 1,000 employees, the late fee for the first business day the monthly certified statement fails to attain a completed status is $1,000. For each subsequent business day that the monthly certified statement fails to attain a completed status, the employer shall pay an additional $100.
5. (e) In determining the number of employees for purposes of assessing the late fee in subsection (d) of this section, TRS shall base the fee on the number of employees reflected on the employer's monthly certified statement for May of the preceding school year. New employers will pay late fees for the first school year as provided in subsection (d)(1) of this section.

Source Note:The provisions of this §31.2 adopted to be effective March 12, 2003, 28 TexReg 2108; amended to be effective October 30, 2003, 28 TexReg 9288; amended to be effective March 15, 2006, 31 TexReg 1719; amended to be effective September 1, 2011, 36 TexReg 5375; amended to be effective November 14, 2017, 42 TexReg 6373.